Nurse Corps News

Nurse Corps News
Volume 9, Issue 5
May 2015
Director’s Corner: National Nurses Week
Inside this issue:
Director’s Corner
1
Reserve Corner: Creating
Leaders for Tomorrow
2
Birthday Message from the
Nurse Corps Director
3
Birthday Message from the
Navy Surgeon General
4
Nurses Week Photos from
Around the Fleet
5-8
Specialty Leader Updates
(1903/3105/1960)
9-10
CJ Reddy Leadership Conference
11
USNS Comfort Celebrates
Nurses Week
12
SNE Conference 2015 from a
Junior Officer’s Perspective
13
San Diego ICU RNs Highlighted in Photos by AACNe
14
Learn More About The Joint
Commission
15
New Army-Baylor DUINS
Program: Executive Management Training for the Future
16
Bravo Zulu!
17
Submit your articles,
photos, and BZs
through your chain of
command to
NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
Nurse Corps News
Design/Layout:
LT Eric Banker
Editor:
LT Edward Spiezio-Runyon
Greetings Navy Nurses.
This month we celebrated
National Nurses Week and
the Navy Nurse Corps
Birthday. The Amer ican
Nurses Association’s
(ANA) theme for 2015 was
“Ethical Practice, Quality
Care.” These topics resonate for me as the critical
underpinnings to the three
tenants I frequently describe
as core to nursing: Caring,
Compassion, and Competency.
Did you know that nurses have been named as the
most honest, trustworthy,
and ethical of all professions for 13 years in a row?
Nurses surpassed pharmacists, teachers, doctors, and
military officers for this distinction. The ANA’s president, Pamela Cipriano, stated, “The public places its
faith in nurses to practice
ethically. A patient’s
health, autonomy and even
life or death can be affected
by a nurse’s decisions and
actions.” Her statement coincided with the release of
the new A NA Code of Ethics for Nurses, posted at
www.nursingworld.org/
ethics. I encour age you to
familiarize yourself with
this professional practice
document.
Nurses Week was celebrated 6-12 May and there
were special events worldwide to celebrate Nursing
Excellence and the Navy
Nurse Corps… fun runs, CEU
opportunities, DAISY awards,
picnics, balls, and of course
birthday cake. In the National
Capital Region, we capped off
the week with a Navy Nurse
Corp Ball in celebration of our
107th birthday. The evening
was magnificent. CAPT Ginny
Beeson (ret), our guest speaker,
reminded us to uphold nursing
fundamentals, to cherish our
predecessors’ accomplishments, and to challenge boundaries that limit our professional
contribution to the nation’s
health and well being. CAPT
Beeson also shared with the
audience the key attributes of
nursing within the Military
Health Service, specifically
Navy Nursing, which she feels
set us apart from “routine” civilian nursing practice – leadership, teamwork, and family.
We are leaders from day one of
groups and individuals to provide outstanding care, as well
as leaders of patients and families who are recipients of our
care; we are constant shipmates
and teammates with unity of
purpose; and we are family,
who love and support one another.
Your caring, compassion,
and competency inspire me. I
encourage you to pause, reflect, and celebrate your individual and collective accomplishments as nurses, and in
support of nursing. Be proud
of those accomplishments and
use them to fuel your efforts to
make us even stronger and
Follow the Admiral on Twitter
Twitter.com/Navy_NC
Rebecca McCormick-Boyle
RADM, NC, USN
Director, Navy Nurse Corps
more focused in the weeks
and months ahead. As
your Director, I want to
personally thank all of you
for what you do each and
every day as Navy Nurses.
Nurses:
Do you have a
question for the
Admiral?
Post your question
to NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
for an opportunity
to
“Ask the Admiral”
Page 2
Nurse Corps News
Reserve Corner: Creating Leaders for Tomorrow
invariably will shape
what eventually will become our leaders of tomorrow.
To assist with my
quest, I asked the most
senior group of Nurse
Corps leaders, the Senior
Nurse Executives (SNEs),
to provide their perceptions of the most important characteristics that
Tina Alvarado
the JO should possess in
RDML, NC, USN
order to progress within
Deputy Director,
the leadership tract within
Reserve Component
the Command structure.
People often ask me The SNEs offered the following:
what it takes to be a
- The JO should posmilitary leader. I am
sess
the desire to progress
sure they are trying to
within
the leadership
discern what special
characteristics I have or track
- They should underwhat I did that distinstand the need for transguished me from my
parency as a method of
peers and resulted in
communication and be
my selection to Flag
open and accountable
Officer. Some might
- They should possess
think there is a magic
an ethical and professionformula. There isn’t,
al demeanor within the
but the one big thing
Command
that I know was a key
- The JO should not
to my personal leadershy
away from taking on
ship growth and develnew roles or collateral
opment was engagement by my senior of- duties within the command
ficers. In a nutshell, I
- They should want to
had great mentors. Bebe
the
best that they can
yond mentoring, the
question got me think- be in whatever position
ing long and hard about they take on
- They should want to
what kinds of traits we
see early on in our jun- grow within the nursing
profession by going to
ior officers (JO) that
graduate school
may distinguish them
- They need to be comfrom their peers. I
mitted to the Navy
think it’s important to
- They should learn
recognize such traits
how
to be adaptable to the
and reward and encourdynamic
mission focuses
age their development.
that may occur
These characteristics
- They should display a
sense of modesty and integrity
- They should be professional, respectful, reliable, honest, and a team
player while going over
and above their job requirement
- They should encourage other members to give
their all.
Wow! Sounds great to
me! Interestingly, many
of these characteristics
identified by the SNEs are
actually comparable to the
attributes defined within a
leadership continuum expressed in the Army’s
Leadership Requirement
Model. The model’s basic
components center on
what a leader is and what
a leader does. There are
two components: Attributes and Core Leader
Competencies.
A. Attributes (what a
leader is): 1. A leader of
character by having core
values, empathy, the Warrior Ethos. 2. A leader
with presence by having
military bearing, being
physically fit, and being
resilient. 3. A leader with
intellectual capacity to use
sound judgment, be mentally agile, and display
good interpersonal tact.
B. Core Leadership
Competencies (what a
leader does) include the
abilities to communicate
and influence others beyond the chain of command, develop a positive
working environment, be
self-prepared prepare oth-
ers, and achieve by getting
results.
Leading theorists, such
as Gary Yukl, whose theoretical work comprehensively reviews many leadership elements related to
traits and behaviors, have
come to the conclusion that
“there is no one fixed view
of what makes for a successful leader, but there are
common factors that make
someone stand out yet still
no one has discovered a
secret formula for creating
great leaders.”
Perhaps the most important foundational attribute for development of a
leader is self-awareness.
In other words you must
ask yourself, “What kind
of a leader am I? What
leadership traits do I currently have? Which do I
need to develop? What is
my personal style?”
Above all, great leaders
spend more time thinking
about others than they do
themselves. When you
realize that your success is
dependent upon the success of your team, you will
begin to lead differently.
We also asked several
of the SNEs to “identify
and share the characteristics of any of your junior
Nurse Corps officers who
appear to be emerging as
leaders within their own
peer group.”
While we are calling
out just a few of our talented JO leaders, keep in
mind there are many, many
(continued next page)
Volume 9, Issue 5
Page 3
Reserve Corner: Creating Leaders for Tomorrow (cont.)
more out there at the
deck plate who are
quietly developing
their leadership skills.
My hope is that, by
highlighting a few,
you will be able to
identify some of the
common characteristics (advanced education, continual pursuit
of learning, willingness to take the tough
jobs, always an enthusiastic team player, volunteering for
out of the box assignments, and more) for
success and together
we can all help mentor and create more
Nurse Corps leaders.
BZ to the following
who have earned early
recognition by their
Senior Nurse Executives!
From EMF Dallas,
LT William Thornton
is a prior Corpsman
who now serves as a
CRNA. LCDR Robin
Hermann, a newly Direct Commissioned Officer, CRNA, is currently pursuing her
DNP and has already
taken on the role of
Awards Officer for the
Command.
From OHSU San
Diego, LCDR Eva Del
Castillo has taken on a
second tour as Assistant
Officer in Charge of the
Flex drill unit, while
also professionally enhancing her career as a
certified wound care
nurse. LT Donna Kugler is a cer tified Medical Surgical Nurse who
took on the role as the
Training Officer for the
detachment.
From EMF Great
Lakes, LT Rachel Colden just r eceived her
Master’s as a Nurse
Practitioner in Family
Practice and Emergency Care.
From EMF Bethesda, LTJG Javan Kontz
has performed additional duty by helping to
staff several BUMED
senior leadership meetings and has learned
military custom and
courtesy by serving as
Flag Aide.
Today’s JO is keenly self-aware, educated,
highly talented, and extremely competitive.
We are fortunate to be
able to attract and retain
such cream of the crop
nurses. As senior officers we have a duty and
responsibility to encourage, challenge,
mentor, and reward
them. If we lead our
JOs down the path to
success, they will lead
the ones who come after them. And so… the
great Navy Nurse tradition continues!
Birthday Message from the Director
I want to take this
opportunity to personally say “thank you”
to all the nurses who
make up the Navy
nursing team – Active
and Reserve Component nurses, as well as
our Federal Civilian
and contract nurse
peers – you are the
reason the Navy
Nurse Corps has enjoyed 107 years of
exceptional clinical
leadership in support
of Navy Medicine.
Without the entire
team working together, we could not have
met the operational
and health benefit
mission requirements
asked of our Corps.
National Nurses Week
is a time to celebrate,
indeed!
In keeping with this
year’s National Nurses
Week theme, “Ethical
Practice, Quality Care,”
Navy nurses embrace
caring, compassion, and
competence while delivering the highest quality
care to our patients and
their families. Because
of YOU, the Navy nursing team stands among
the Navy’s most prominent officers and respected clinicians. Each
and every one of you
are absolutely pivotal to
mission accomplishment in the Surgeon
General’s top priority
areas of readiness, value, and jointness.
Thank you for remaining at the forefront of
the extraordinary successes Navy Medicine
has achieved during
more than a decade of
war. It is because of
your passion for the
profession and strong
McCormick-Boyle
commitment to patient Rebecca
RADM, NC, USN
safety that we succeed. Director, Navy Nurse Corps
It is an honor and a
privilege to represent
May your Nurses Week
such an outstanding
celebrations be memoragroup of professionals.
ble and fun!
Thank you for all that
you do on a daily basis.
Page 4
Nurse Corps News
Happy Birthday, Navy Nurse Corps!
component of the Navy
on May 13, 1908.
Since its inception, the
Nurse Corps has helped
shape the history of the
Navy and has personified Navy Medicine’s
mission. The Nurse
Corps has grown in
number and prestige
since the first nurses
were assigned to Navy
Matthew L. Nathan hospitals in Annapolis,
VADM, MC, USN
Maryland; Brooklyn,
Surgeon General of
New York; Mare Isthe Navy
land, California; and
On behalf of Navy Norfolk, Virginia.
During World War
Medicine, I would
like to extend my sin- II, Navy nurses were
cere gratitude and ap- taken as prisoners of
preciation to the Navy war, and continued to
function in their posiNurse Corps on their
tions, showing the
birthday, celebrating
107 years of unwaver- strength and resilience
of a Navy nurse. These
ing commitment and
nurses cared for other
service to our Navy,
prisoners in their camp,
Marine Corps, and
and will be forever reNation.
membered as the “Band
President Theodore Roosevelt signed of Angels.”
From those first
the Naval Appropriations Bill establishing nurses to over 4,000
Navy nurses today, the
the Nurse Corps as a
necessary and unique men and women of the
Nurse Corps continue
to protect the health and
interests of our Sailors
and Marines around the
world.
Navy Medicine is
honored to celebrate the
birthday of such an
honorable group of
medical professionals.
Our Nurse Corps officers fly with wounded
from battle-torn areas;
provide care in the fleet
and on hospital ships;
establish nursing
schools, clinics, and
small hospitals in remote areas of the
world; and administer
or command military
treatment facilities
worldwide. Navy nurses are professional scientists, researchers,
teachers, providers and
clinicians. They set the
standard for military
medicine, and continue
to have a prominent
place in our United
States Navy.
On this day, we also
recognize and honor the
members of our Navy
Nurse Corps who put
themselves in harm’s
way, and those who
gave the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of our
Sailors and Marines
throughout history.
Our Navy Nurse
Corps is essential to our
force health protection
and readiness. These
men and women ensure
we have a healthy
force, ready to protect
and serve at a moment’s notice. They
selflessly care for our
Sailors, Marines, and
their families, around
the world, at home, and
on the front lines, anytime, anywhere.
To the more than
4,000 active duty and
reserve Nurse Corps
personnel, I thank you
for your service, sacrifice, and dedication.
Happy 107th birthday
Navy Nurse Corps!
Have an idea for an
article or photos of
you and your colleagues doing what
you do best?
Submit your articles,
photos, and BZs
through your chain
of command to:
NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
Volume 9, Issue 5
Page 5
USNS Comfort
NCR Nurse Corps Ball
RADM McCormick-Boyle and ENS Salazar, from WRNMMC, cut the cake at the National Capital Region’s Nurse
Corps Ball.
Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton
Page 6
Nurse Corps News
Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center - Bethesda
COL Vinette Gordon (ANC), MG Dorothy Hogg (AF), RADM
(ret) Christine Bruzek-Kohler (Director for Healthcare Operations, DHA/NCR Directorate), RADM Sylvia Trent-Adams
(USPHS), CAPT Annette Beadle (Navy), and COL Ray Antoine (DNS, WRNMMC) cut the cake to mark the
opening of Nurses Week at WRNMMC.
The senior and junior Navy nurses at Walter Reed Bethesda,
CAPT Sarah Martin and ENS Gabrielle Salazar, make the
first cut in the birthday cake during a ceremony to celebrate
the 107th birthday of the Navy Nurse Corps.
2LT Christina Rott lights a candle after reciting the Prayer of an Army Nurse during the
Blessing of the Hands ceremony at Walter
Reed Bethesda.
Guest Speaker Dr. Alyshia Smith with DAISY Award recipients 2LT Samantha
Richardson, ENS Mia Galassi, and SGT John Thomas and Director Nursing
Services COL Ray Antoine during the DAISY Award ceremony at Walter Reed
Bethesda.
Have an idea for an article or photos of you and your
colleagues doing what you do best?
Submit your articles, photos, and BZs through your
chain of command to:
[email protected]
Volume 9, Issue 5
Page 7
Nurses:
Do you have a question for the Admiral?
Post your question to
NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
for an opportunity to
“Ask the Admiral”
Naval Hospital Beaufort
NHC Cherry Point
Virtual Cake Cutting
NHC Annapolis
Top Left Screen: BHC Earle, NJ
Lower Left Screen: BHC Lakehurst, NJ
Nurse Corps News
Page 8
Naval Hospital Guam
NHC Portsmouth
NHC Corpus Christi
NHC Groton
NHC Patuxent River
Page 9
Volume 9, Issue 5
Specialty Leader Update: Education & Training (1903/3105)
Greetings from the Education and Training
Community! First and
foremost, congratulations
to our newest CaptainSelects, CDR Ethan Josiah
and CDR Terri Kinsey!
Their hard work and perseverance have kept our
community an integral
part of the Navy Medicine
mission. We look forward
to their continued success.
Much has been discussed lately regarding
Navy Medicine and the
Military Health System
(MHS) in their respective
ongoing efforts toward
becoming High Reliability
Organizations (HRO). So
what exactly is an HRO
and how can the Education
and Training Community
support BUMED’s journey toward this goal? The
Joint Commission defines
a Healthcare HRO as an
institution adapting and
applying the lessons of
hazardous work environments, such as aviation or
nuclear power, to reach
levels of quality and safety
(Chassin and Loeb, 2013).
In adopting the characteristics of an HRO, BUMED
seeks to fundamentally
change our culture toward
the goals of zero patient
harm, a culture of safety
throughout the organization, and effective continuous process improvement.
Our community can support these efforts by understanding our role as it
relates to the HRO characteristics.
The first characteristic,
Sensitivity to Operations,
indicates that staff are constantly aware of any sys-
tem or process changes
that could affect patient
care. This implies that our
community must ensure
we are ready to support
our customers in the event
that training is needed to
reinforce current practice
or adapt to reflect changes
in patient care. Internally,
continuous monitoring of
the effectiveness of training through student, instructor, and supervisor
feedback will keep us apprised on the product of
instruction.
Reluctance to Oversimplify is the second HRO
characteristic. It means
that successful organizations avoid simple or easy
explanations for mishaps.
Instead, they do not hesitate to do the deep dive in
an effort to understand the
complexities and nuances
that are often overlooked
or neglected in order to use
the easy fix. Our community must ensure that we
support our chain of command by being available to
do the legwork necessary
to provide the full picture
of why problems happen.
We must insist upon education and training having
a seat at the table so that
we can provide data-driven
input to the team from our
perspective as educators.
We must ensure that we
are ready and appropriately skilled to provide this
support.
Third, Preoccupation
with Failure means that an
HRO is never complacent
when things seem to be
going well. They are constantly vigilant for indications of new threats to
safety. Applied to the
medical system, this
means that we must ensure that not only do we
do no harm to the patient,
but we must also always
consider the risks and
benefits of any clinical
decisions. Our community should ensure that we
include this focus on patient interventions across
the spectrum of instruction – from Hospital
Corpsman “A” school to
ACLS courses. This may
indicate greater emphasis
on immersive training
such as simulation and
gaming, which allows for
learning from “safe” failures during instruction.
Internally, we must ensure that we consider all
facets of decision making
in the support of our
training systems and any
changes that we make.
Next, Deference to
Expertise means that we
value the input and views
from those process owners regardless of rank or
position. More deckplate
input is necessary in ensuring the delivery of effective and safe patient
care. Our community
must ensure that we include our instructors and
junior program managers
in discussions and planning. Moreover, it is necessary that these stakeholders understand that
their input is essential in
keeping our community
relevant in support of Navy Medicine’s mission.
Finally, Resilience is
the characteristic of
HROs that lead them to
recognize errors and fail-
CAPT Christopher Pratt
ures early and to learn
from them in an effort to
minimize recurrence. Despite constant vigilance
and hard work, any system can fail. An HRO
succeeds when it quickly
finds and contains these
failures to limit the impact
and strive to better understand how they happened
to prevent them from happening again. Our community can support this
characteristic through effective survey and analysis of student and customer data. Robust instructor/
student remediation programs can quickly identify
issues and employ
measures focused on the
individual’s success.
In conclusion, the Education and Training Community will play an essential role as BUMED and
the MHS focus on achieving the HRO goal. We
must ensure that we understand how we can support this effort and be
ready to take our place on
the team. Good luck and
hope to see you soon!
Page 10
Nurse Corps News
Special Leader Update: Critical Care Nursing (1960)
Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System, Sep 2014-Mar 2015
Care…
Account by
LTJG Brittany Smith Anytime, Anywhere.”
on behalf of
The ERSS
LCDR Eddie Lopez
team is
For the past seven
equipped to
years, the United States care for two
Navy’s Expeditionary
major and
Resuscitative Surgical two minor
System (ERSS) has
surgical pasupported missions all tients, and to
around the globe,
further moniproviding expeditiontor these paary trauma surgical re- tients for a
suscitation in a highly
full twentymobile and scalable
four hours
fashion within the
prior to
CENTCOM area of
transport if
responsibility (AOR).
needed. This LT Zena Marashi and LTJG Brittany Smith, critical care nurses attached
As a level-II surgical
specialized
to Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System (ERSS) 13.
asset, their goal is to
team is comprovide tailored, misposed of nine medical
zation and medevac of
maintain team inventory
sion-specific medical
professionals including: patients; however, she
reports; and reorder supcapabilities close to the an emergency room
was often called upon to plies, equipment, and
point of injury in supphysician, general surfulfill many nonclinical blood products as needport of military opera- geon, anesthesiologist,
duties as well. As an
ed.
tions afloat and ashore. two critical care nurses, operational nurse, it was
Over the years, ERSS
In times of war,
one independent duty
her duty to ensure that
teams have worked hard
ERSS’s flexibility, mo- corpsman, two operating she, her team, and her
to prepare and posture
bility, and scalability
room technicians, and
shipmates remained op- for uncertainty within the
are invaluable. Unlike one general duty corps- erationally ready to
CENTCOM AOR. Durlarger forward deman. Team roles can be serve at a moment’s no- ing her six month deployed surgical teams, further classified into
tice and were always
ployment, LTJG Smith’s
ERSS can set up for
trauma triage, surgical
prepared for the mission team cared for numerous
patient triage, resuscita- stabilization, and enat hand. As a leader,
patients of varying injution, stabilization, dam- route care.
LTJG Smith was reries, including three
age control surgery and
Naval Medical Censponsible for helping
emergent surgical cases.
en-route care in almost ter Portsmouth critical
organize the transition
Relationships were also
any shelter of opporcare nurse, LTJG Britta- of blood products and
formed between Ameritunity within 45
ny Smith, was a member medical gear during
cans and foreign Emirate
minutes or less and op- of the 13th ERSS team
seventeen team moveand Djiboutian nationals;
erate on battery power operationally deployed
ments between USNS
and those who were willor function optimally
from September 2014
ships, USS ships,
ing to sacrifice everyusing only two 110V
through March 2015,
LCACs, LCUs, MV-22 thing they had were enaoutlets. In short, ERSS within the CENTCOM
(Osprey), and Blackbled access to the “World
was created with Navy AOR. As a critical care hawks; track and perClass” care they so honMedicine’s motto in
nurse, LTJG Smith priform preventative
orably deserved.
mind: to further promarily assisted her team maintenance on the
vide “World-Class
with the trauma stabiliteam’s medical gear;
Volume 9, Issue 5
Page 11
CJ Reddy Leadership Conference
LT Jenny Paul, LT Alessandra Zeigler, LT Candy Anderson, and LT Dan Mendoza
A blending of US military
services took place this year at
the annual CJ Reddy Leadership Conference, turning military nursing into a “purple”
force for health. Sponsored by
the Army Nurse Corps and
held at the Defense Health
Headquarters in Falls Church,
Virginia, the CJ Reddy Leadership Conference took place
from 30 March- 2 April. In its
24th year, this conference was
initiated by Army Colonel
Charles J. Reddy, an Army
Nurse Corps officer and leader
who, during his 30 years of
service, was prestigiously recognized for his commitment
towards developing junior Army leaders. The first conference was held in 1992 and has
served ever since as an opportunity for Army Nurse Corps
officers to acknowledge and
develop their skills and responsibilities as military leaders.
Over the years this four day
gathering has evolved to include the Army’s three sister
health services, the Navy, Air
Force, and the Public Health
Service. Navy officers selected
to attend this year’s conference
included LT Candy Anderson
from WRNNMC, LT Dan
Mendoza from USNH Okinawa, LT Jenny Paul from NHC
New England, and LT Alessanda Ziegler from NBHC Bahrain. Those nominated have
been recognized by their leadership for excellence in their
clinical and leadership capabilities.
Inspirational keynote speakers from the Army led the
charge and included Army Surgeon General, Lieutenant General Patricia Horoho; Chief of
the Army Nurse Corps, Major
General Jimmie Keenan; and
Brigadier General (ret) William
Bessler, former chief of the
Army Nurse Corps. All services were represented during
the senior leadership panel,
which allowed for questions
and answers from some of the
highest leaders of the respective Nurse Corps. Panel mem-
bers included Major General
Keenan; CAPT Annette Beadle, Deputy Director of the
Navy Nurse Corps; RADM
Sylvia Trent-Adams, Chief
Nursing Officer of the U.S.
Public Health Service; and
Colonel Yolanda Bledsoe,
Command Nurse of the Air
Force.
This year’s conference
attendees were asked to submit their input on what they
felt were the highest priority
issues in military medicine
today. The “Top 5 Issues”
that emerged were Leadership, Joint Facilities, Staffing,
Professional Development,
and Standardization. Groups
were formed to brainstorm
and develop a Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities,
and Threats (SWOT) Analysis for each of the identified
challenging issues. Some
very candid discussions were
held during group sessions,
resulting in some very innovative ideas for tackling these
issues head on. Suggestions
included creative staffing
solutions, improved up-anddown communications, and
expanded educational opportunities using advances in
technology. The diverse perspectives of the sister service
representatives were valuable
during this collaborative process. The week culminated
with each group presenting a
30-minute briefing of their
SWOT analysis to Major
General Keenan and Colonel
Vinette Gordon, Deputy
Chief, Army Nurse Corps.
The SWOT analysis exercise
proved to be thought provoking and allowed top-level
strategic leadership some
valuable insight into the challenges perceived by those at
the tactical level.
The conference also addressed the hot topic of patient safety, as Major General
Keenan is leading efforts to
develop the U.S. Army’s
Medical Command
(MEDCOM) into a High Re-
liability Organization
(HRO). As an HRO, Army
Medicine aims to provide
opportunities to apply best
practice ideas in healthcare
settings. Its goal is to improve beneficiary care and
create safe environments for
all patients and staff. An
organization is considered
an HRO if it has succeeded
in avoiding catastrophes in
an environment where normal accidents can be expected due to risk factors
and complexity. Key to its
success are two elements:
(a) its core characteristics
are embedded in the fabric
of the organization, and (b)
its leaders build expectations into daily roles, routines, and strategies.
Becoming an HRO also
depends upon leadership
commitment, a safety culture, and a robust performance improvement process. Leadership is key to
driving change and solidifying a commitment to the
long-term process to become an HRO. Moreover, a
culture of safety involves
trust, the availability to report problems freely, and a
desire to improve from lessons learned. Lastly, a performance improvement process focuses on analyzing
safety problems while guiding the organization toward
effective solutions.
As leaders embedded in
the healthcare community,
we have the opportunity to
act as the catalyst toward
early recognition of preventable harm and essentially
“celebrating” the staff for
promptly identifying the
error. In doing so, we empower the staff to be more
self-aware and cognizant of
human factors. Process
Improvement initiatives
related to Patient Safety
include the “Good Catch”
alert which broadcasts when
an error was identified that
prevented further patient
LT Danilo Mendoza (NH Okinawa),
LT Jenny Paul (NHC New England),
and LT Alessandra Ziegler (NBHC
Bahrain)
harm. It allows an opportunity to discuss contributing
factors. Team STEPPS increases communication
throughout the medical team
improving overall efficiency.
Major General Keenan
spoke candidly with the junior officer leadership about
our role in this movement.
We must lead by example.
Ensuring competency
amongst our staff, especially
the novice nurses, will increase their confidence and
ability to acknowledge errors. Embracing honesty
and creating an environment
of respect for both nursing
and patient safety will add
value to being a part of the
team. It is up to us to lead
the way in cultivating an
environment of safety and
continue to strive for zero
preventable harm. Remember, to err is human; to forgive, divine.
The CJ Reddy Conference educated us to be
stronger patient safety advocates and military leaders
and proved to be a truly
unique, insightful, and memorable experience. This
event provided a glimpse
into the world of our sister
services. It also allowed our
Navy Nurses the opportunity
to meet and learn from the
best and brightest leaders of
the Nurse Corps, as well as
build lasting bonds of friendship and collaboration.
Page 12
Nurse Corps News
USNS Comfort Celebrates Nurse Corps Birthday
MC1 Amy Kirk
Personnel aboard the
Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS
Comfort, currently deployed in support of Continuing Promise 2015
(CP-15), commemorated
Navy Nurse Week and
celebrated the 107th
birthday of the Navy
Nurse Corps with a cakecutting ceremony on 13
May.
CAPT Christine Sears,
commanding officer of
Comfort’s Military Treatment Facility, offered
birthday wishes to the
nurses embarked aboard.
“Thank you to all the Navy Nurse Corps officers
for your dedication, service, and professionalism. For 107 years the
Navy nurse has embodied
all that nursing can and
should be – caring for our
beneficiaries in peace,
our Sailors in war, and
our fellow global citizens
in humanitarian missions
such as this.”
CAPT Cindy Baggott,
director of nursing services and senior nurse
executive, read birthday
greetings from VADM
Matthew Nathan, Surgeon General of the Navy
and chief of the Navy’s
Bureau of Medicine and
Surgery (BUMED).
Nursing team representatives read additional
birthday greetings from
RADM Rebecca McCormick-Boyle, Director,
Navy Nurse Corps; Major General Jimmie
O’Keenan, Chief, Army
Nurse Corps; RADM
Raquel Bono, Director,
Navy Medical Corps;
RDML Terry Moulton,
Director, Navy Medical
Service Corps; RDML
Stephen Pachuta, Director, Navy Dental Corps;
and Force Master Chief
(FORCM) Sherman
Boss, Director, Hospital
Corps and FORCM for
BUMED.
The most senior
Nurse Corps officer,
CAPT (ret) Colleen
McLarnon, and the most
junior Nurse Corps officer, ENS Norving
Gutierrez, were selected
to cut this year’s birthday cake. McLarnon, a
30-year Navy veteran, is
serving as the head
medical director for the
embarked nongovernmental organization Project Hope.
Gutierrez, assigned to
Naval Medical Center
Portsmouth, works in
Comfort’s Casualty Receiving department.
After the cake cutting, Navy chaplains
CAPT George Adams
and LCDR Jay Kersten
performed the blessing
of the hands ceremony.
As they blessed each
person, Adams recited
the prayer, “Nurses
Hands.” The blessing
of the hands tradition is
open to all nurses no
matter their religion,
explained Adams. The
ceremony honors the
role of nurses providing
compassionate care to
others, as well as helps
reaffirm their commitment to the nursing profession.
Nurses Week is an
internationally celebrated recognition event that
was first observed in
1954, marking the 100th
anniversary of Florence
Nightingale’s mission to
Crimea. It runs each
year from 6 May-12
May, Nightingale’s
birthday.
The Navy Nurse
Corps was established
May 13, 1908, when
President Theodore
Roosevelt signed the
Naval Appropriations
Bill that authorized its
creation as a unique Navy staff corps. The first
20 to graduate were
known as the “Sacred
Twenty,” the first female members to ever
formally serve in the
Navy during World War
I. They were assigned
to hospitals in Annapolis, MD; Brooklyn, NY;
Mare Island, CA; and
Norfolk, VA. The Sacred Twenty made
broad contributions during wartime, including
training field nurses,
treating disease, and
providing educational
programs for nurses.
CAPT Baggott said
the nurses embarked
aboard Comfort for CP15, composed of U.S.
military, nongovernmental organization, host nation, and
partner nation members
and representing diverse
specialties, are doing
their part to carry on the
proud history of the
Nurse Corps and make
CP-15 a success. “The
nurses and hospital
corpsmen embarked for
Continuing Promise 2015
are providing direct care,
patient education, and
discharge planning for
host nation patients undergoing procedures
aboard the ship and at
shore sites. They are also
collaborating with host
nation colleagues for vital subject matter expert
exchanges and community relations projects to
foster enduring partnerships, build capacity, and
strengthen interoperability.”
Continuing Promise is
a deployment sponsored
by the U.S. Southern
Command and conducted
by Naval Forces Southern Command the 4th
Fleet. Its mission is to
conduct joint civilian/
military operations including humanitariancivil assistance; subject
matter expert exchanges;
medical, dental, veterinary, and engineering
support; and disaster response to partner nations,
as well as to showcase
the United States’s continued support and commitment to Central and
South America and the
Caribbean.
Volume 9, Issue 5
Page 13
13
SNEPage
Conference
2015 from a Junior Officer’s Perspective
LT Sondra Jolly
LT Johanna Carlson
LT Amy Aparicio
LT David Johnson
LT Michelle Barba
LT Stephane Beatty
LT Phyllis Dykes
and LT Javan Kontz
On March 17, 2015,
an enthusiastic group
of senior nurses came
together at the Defense
HealthCaption
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for thepicture
2015orSNE
Business Meeting and Orientation. This was an
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leaders to network and
discuss strategic business imperatives related to the Navy Medicine Strategic Plan, the
Nurse Corps Strategic
Plan, and the leadership
knowledge, skills, and
abilities necessary to
effectively carry out
the role of a Senior
Nurse Executive. As
the seven young Lieutenants chosen to attend the meeting as
Leadership Interns, we
witnessed firsthand the
inner workings of our
senior leadership. To
be a part of the shared
knowledge and comradery felt like we were
going to summer camp
or a retreat. The senior
nurses arrived literally
from around the world,
many suffering from jet
lag and exhausted from
travel, but shortly into
day one, Reservist and
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sitting side
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comradery for one another was apparent.
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Nurse Corps News
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This story can fit 150-200
words.
One benefit of using your
newsletter as a promotional
tool is that you can reuse content from other marketing
materials, such as press releases, market studies, and reports.
develop and write your own
articles, or include a calendar
of upcoming events or a special
offer that promotes a new
product.
You can also research articles
or find “filler” articles by accessing the World Wide Web.
You can write about a variety
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us arrived for the event,
we didn’t really know
what to expect. LT
Sondra Jolly, from Naval Medical Center
Portsmouth, recalls the
strengths
of
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Navy
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for a junior officer (JO).
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Page 14
Nurse Corps News
SNE Conference 2015 from a Junior Officer’s Perspective (cont.)
McCormick-Boyle, I
think she joined the
military twice for similar reasons. Such a
great asset to the Nurse
Corps and the Navy; to
know that she served
40 years and is retiring
is sad for us all. The
experience will stay
with me, similar to
summer camp. It was
hard to say goodbye to
the six fellow interns, it
is easier to say, please
stay in the Navy, you
are great and I want to
continue to serve with
you in the years
ahead!”
We were all there
from different parts of
the world and had experienced different
things in our careers as
Navy Nurse Corps Officers; however, we all
took away a similar
viewpoint of this opportunity. LT Johanna
Carlson from Camp
Lejeune summed it up
best when she said, “One
of the most touching moments was seeing
RADM McCormickBoyle tear up with such
passion when speaking
to us about the future of
the Navy (I honestly as-
sumed she was too
busy to notice the Junior Officers). Few
things say more about a
leader than their passion and concern for
those they lead.” We
were able to witness
our leaders collaborate
and share their expertise in all aspects of
being a senior nurse in
the United States Navy.
As the Interns, we
would like to take the
opportunity to thank
CAPT Valerie Morrison and CAPT Irene
Weaver for inviting us
to be a part of the SNE
Business Meeting and
Orientation. It was an
incredible experience
and we appreciate everything we gained
from all of the senior
leadership that was in
attendance.
Volume 9, Issue 5
Page 15
Learn More About The Joint Commission
CDR Bobby Hurt
Do you want to
know more about The
Joint Commission?
Have you always wanted to know how you
can get involved with
accreditation readiness
but weren’t sure how
to do it? Not sure of
resources that can help
you?
The Joint Commission: Navy Medicine’s
accrediting body for
health care facilities.
An independent, not
-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission accredits and
certifies more than
20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United
States. Joint Commission accreditation and
certification is recognized nationwide as a
symbol of quality that
reflects an organization’s commitment to
meeting certain performance standards. The
Joint Commission visits our facilities every
three years to ensure
our compliance with
standards.
High Reliability Organizations wor k to
maintain high levels of
safety and quality over
time and across all
health care services
and settings by consistently focusing on a
safety culture and processes to support trust,
reporting, and improvement. As Navy
Medicine journeys toward High Reliability,
it is a great opportunity
to get involved with
accreditation readiness,
quality improvement,
and patient safety activities at your command.
How can I get involved?
Talk with your
chain of command to
see how you can get
involved at your command or unit level. A
leading practice seen at
several commands is to
become a local (unit)
level Joint Commission
champion on various
topics. Involving senior and junior enlisted
is also a leading practice to discuss accreditation and standards at
staff meetings and disseminate in day to day
practice, during huddles and turnover.
Resources
Feel free to join
Milsuite and ask to become a member of The
Joint Commission
(Official BUMED
Site). This site serves
as a repository, housing
information regarding
frequently cited standards across the enterprise, Accreditation in
60 Seconds (a brief description) of standards
that are often found to
be in noncompliance
and ways you can help
ensure compliance, and
other resources to help
you learn more about
accreditation, quality
improvement, and patient safety. Click to
learn more about The
Joint Commission at
its official website.
Utilize your quality
department to help answer your questions
and to ask how you can
get involved at your
local command. The
Joint Commission Fellows listed below are
also available to answer
questions. You can
email them by clicking
their names.
BUMED Joint Commission Fellow:
CDR Bobby Hurt
NME Joint Commission Fellow:
CAPT Khin
Aungthein
NMW Joint Commission Fellow:
CDR Kevin Burns
Have an idea for an
article or photos of
you and your colleagues doing what
you do best?
Submit your articles, photos, and
BZs through your
chain of
command to:
NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
DNS/SNEs:
Would you like to
see your command
featured in our new
Spotlight on a Command section?
Contact us to find
out how!
NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
Page 16
Nurse Corps News
New Army-Baylor DUINS Program: Executive Management Training
for the Future
CDR Lonnie Hosea
The Navy Nurse
Corps is offering two
officers with at least
10 years of clinical
experience the new
opportunity to receive
an Executive Clinical
Leadership Management of Health Administration (MHA)
degree at the ArmyBaylor University
Graduate Program in
Health and Business
Administration. This
new degree program
option is designed for
clinicians preparing
for senior executive
positions (Director and
above) reducing the
required time away
from the Military
Health System.
Selectees will arrive to the program
with a research question which they will
begin to develop an
answer for in the second semester. Attendees will be given
credit for their significant clinical experience and will complete
the program in 12
months versus the traditional 24-month Army-Baylor MHA degree program. This
intense program consists of 66 graduate
hours, completed at
the Army-Baylor cam-
pus on the Fort Sam
Houston, San Antonio,
Texas. Army-Baylor
students are all from
the federal health systems (Military, Veteran, Army Civilian, and
Coast Guard Systems).
If selected for this program you will be
trained by the same
faculty who were rated
in 2015 by U.S. News
as the #7 Health Care
Management degree
program.
Applicants will be
required to meet the
entrance standards for
Baylor University
Graduate School and
must not have had a
master’s degree
through the Navy’s
Duty Under Instruction Program.
In addition to this
new opportunity, the
Navy Nurse Corps
2016 DUINS training
plan includes two quotas for the traditional
and #7 rated, 24month MHA degree
program which continues to offer the Master
of Business Administration option. The
primary difference in
the two programs is a
second year, 12-month
administrative residency in the traditional
program is not included in the new degree
option.
The Army-Baylor
University Graduate
Program in Health and
Business Administration is preparing the
future leaders of the
military and federal
health system. Further
information regarding
the Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Health and
Business Administration can be found at
www.baylor.edu/
graduate/mha/ or contact CDR Lonnie Hosea, Specialty Leader
for Healthcare and
Business Analytics at
Lonnie.S.Hosea.mil
@mail.mil.
Have an idea for an
article or photos of
you and your colleagues doing what
you do best?
Submit your articles, photos, and
BZs through your
chain of
command to:
NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
Nurses:
Do you have a
question for the
Admiral?
Post your question
to NCNewsletter
@med.navy.mil
for an opportunity
to
“Ask the Admiral”
DNS/SNEs:
Would you like to see your command featured in
our new Spotlight on a Command section?
Contact us to find out how!
[email protected]
Volume 9, Issue 5
Page 17
Bravo Zulu!
Certifications:
- LTJG David Acree, from Naval Hospital Camp
Pendleton, earned the Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN) certification.
- LT Rachel Bradshaw, a perioperative nurse from
Fleet Surgical Team 8 in Norfolk, VA, successfully completed all personnel qualification standards
and an extensive oral examination process to earn
the Surface Warfare Medical Department pin
while deployed aboard the USS Iwo Jima (LHD7).
- LTJG Derek Crisman, from Naval Hospital Camp
Pendleton, earned the Certified Forensic Nurse
(CFN) certification.
- LT Kayla Horton, a critical care nurse from Fleet
Surgical Team 8 in Norfolk, VA, successfully
completed all personnel qualification standards
and an extensive oral examination process to earn
the Surface Warfare Medical Department pin
while deployed aboard the USS Iwo Jima (LHD7).
Farewell and Following Seas...
- CAPT Mark Copenhaver
- CAPT Elizabeth Swatzell
- CAPT Harry Smith III
- CDR Robert Durant
- CDR Gerald Boyle
- CDR Kenneth Page
- CDR Theresa Wood
- CDR Robert Ladd
- LCDR James Gennari
- LCDR Joseph Plasse
- LT David Churchmann
- LT Richard Malicdem
- LT Amanda Lashbrook
- LT Oswaldo Najera
Earn a certification or a non-DUINS degree?
Selected for an award or honor? For mention in
our BZ section, submit your announcements
through your chain of command to:
[email protected]
Senator Jeff Klein Honors Analiza Benjamin at 2015
Veterans Hall of Fame Celebration
BRONX, NY - In celebration of the remarkable
achievements of military service members across the
State of New York, Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/
Westchester) honored Analiza Benjamin, Captain in the
U.S. Navy Reserve Nurse Corps and North Bronx
Healthcare Network Senior Associate Director for
Nursing Administration, at the 2015 Veterans Hall of
Fame Celebration in Albany.
“For the distinguished men and women in uniform
who have proudly served this country, the American
people owe you a great debt of gratitude. I am proud to
stand with my colleagues in government to honor and
celebrate Analiza Benjamin who has served in the U.S.
Navy Reserve for nearly 20 years,” said Senator Jeff
Klein. “Analiza is an inspiration to us all — bravely
fighting for the ideals, democracy, and freedom we hold
dear. I applaud Analiza for the tremendous sacrifices
she has made over the years, and it is with great pleasure that I stand here today to honor a true Bronxite and
American hero.”
Ms. Benjamin, a Pelham Bay native and mother of
three, recently returned from active military duty in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she worked as a senior advisor
to the National Military Hospital. While deployed overseas, Ms. Benjamin authored the first complete pharmacology reference manual for the hospital’s nursing department, while working with international military
partners and health officials to educate and train all
nursing staff at the 400-bed coordinated-care facility.
In her role as Senior Associate Director of Nursing
Administration at the North Bronx Healthcare Network,
Ms. Benjamin oversees the operation and clinical staffing of the hospital to ensure both patient safety and satisfaction. Ms. Benjamin is also responsible for the development and implementation of the nursing department’s policies and procedures. Prior to her service in
Afghanistan, Ms. Benjamin participated in humanitarian
medical missions in Thailand and her native Philippines.
“As an immigrant to the United States, being inducted into the Veterans’ Hall of Fame means a great deal to
me. Serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve Corps. has been
an extremely rewarding experience that has opened
many doors,” said Analiza Benjamin. “Thank you to
Senator Klein for this tremendous honor. I am proud to
represent my fellow service men and women in New
York and across the country here today.”
First established in 2005, the New York State Senate
Veterans' Hall of Fame honors and recognizes outstanding service members from New York who have distinguished themselves both in military and civilian life.